AARON vandenBerg says he still pinches himself that he gets to call football his full-time job.

vandenBerg was drafted as a mature-aged rookie by Melbourne from NEAFL side Ainslie in the ACT where he played from 2011-14.

Until injury disrupted his season, vandenBerg was a permanent member of Melbourne’s side, impressing many with his form in 2015.

Reflecting on his journey over the past 12 months from state league to AFL, vandenBerg said he is curious to see if other players would get similar opportunities.

“Whether or not the fact that I’ve been picked up out of league and played a few games is going to help anyone else come under the nose of a recruiter will be interesting to see,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“I’ve certainly played with some very good players who I’ve thought ‘I don’t see how I’m a better player than they are and I’m on an AFL list and they’re not,’ which may just be unfortunate for them. They just haven’t been given the opportunity or the recruiters see something in them, which they don’t think will quite cut it at AFL level.

“A lot of the players who I played with, who were very good, were probably getting on a little bit and a little bit more seasoned. There were some very good state league players so [they] were probably at that age where you couldn’t take the risk on them.”

Living in the ACT during his four seasons with Ainslie, vandenBerg said that AFL did not tend to dominate the sporting landscape the same way it does in Victoria.

“It’s [the ACT] definitely not known as an AFL state, nor is NSW for that matter so in a lot of the younger leagues, there’s not as many young kids playing or kids applying to play football at a younger age,” he said.

“[But] I certainly think when I was there at the start in Canberra in 2011 to when I left in 2014, the league had improved a lot and there were a lot more younger players coming through with a bit more love for AFL than other sports.”

After several years of juggling football commitments with full time work at the Royal Australian Mint, vandenBerg said he was grateful to be able to finally focus on his football.

“What I enjoy the most – and I know the AFL is a very intense lifestyle – but I feel like I’m a little bit more relaxed because I’m not go-go-go all the time, as opposed to waking up so early every morning, going to work and then playing football outside of that.

“It becomes pretty draining after a while and you put in a lot of long hours some days so just to be able to do what I enjoy as a full time job certainly leaves me pinching myself.”